Rexnord workers caught in Trump vs. union war of words

A local union President in Indiana says he finds Donald Trump's tweets amusing, after the President-elect personally criticized him. United Steeelworkers Local 1999 President Chuck Jones drew Trump's ire after he said Trump inflated the number of jobs a deal with Carrier saved in the U.S. (Dec. 9)
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Susan Cooper, a Carrier employee from Huntington, Ind., and Gary Canter, a Rexnord employee in Indianapolis, face layoffs in the coming months. They greeted President-elect Donald Trump's arrival Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, with messages about their own plights.(Photo: Robert King, The Indianapolis Star)

Feltner, a machinist at a Rexnord Corp. (RXN) factory in Indianapolis, is also a vice president with Steelworkers Local 1999, which represents workers at Rexnord as well as at a nearby Carrier Corp. plant. Both plants have announced plans to move jobs from Indianapolis to Mexico.

On Wednesday, Local 1999 President Chuck Jones criticized President-elect Donald Trump for taking credit for preventing about 1,350 jobs at the Carrier facility from leaving; the number of jobs retained actually was closer to 750.

“He got up there and lied his a-- off,” Jones told The Washington Post.

Trump fired back on Twitter, saying that Jones had done a “terrible job” representing workers and that the union should “spend more time working.” Earlier, Trump had criticized Rexnord for its plan, saying the company was “rather viciously firing all of its 300 workers.”

The harsh exchanges probably did little good for the workers at Rexnord — a Milwaukee-based company that makes industrial bearings, gears and other products — who still held out hope that Trump could help persuade it to keep its Indianapolis plant open, Feltner said.

"People were asking, ‘What the hell is Jones doing?’ It stirred up a lot of emotion in the plant,” said Feltner.

“This is my opinion on it, and my opinion only,” he said. “But these are our jobs, and when you have local (union) leadership and the president-elect playing politics, who is going to lose? We are. We need to step away from politics and focus on the task at hand, which is keeping the spotlight on Carrier and Rexnord jobs and every American job. That’s our concern.”

Rexnord declined to comment. Feltner said supervisors from the company’s Mexico plant have been touring the Indianapolis plant, and the company wants its workers to train their replacements in return for severance packages.

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A union leader at the Indianapolis Carrier plant says Donald Trump lied about the number of jobs the company will keep in the U.S.
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“If that’s not a slap in the face, I don’t know what is,” Feltner said, adding that the plant is expected to close in 2017.

“Right now, the jobs are slated to move to Mexico. What we are in negotiations for is to try and finalize severance packages. Those talks are going very slow,” he said.

President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage after being introduced by Vice President-elect, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, to tell about the jobs that are staying in the US at Carrier. An event at the Indianapolis factory was held to announce the info, Thursday, December 1, 2016.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

A Carrier employee claims that it was her son that President-elect Donald Trump spoke about who had heard him say he was keeping Carrier jobs in the US. Trump spoke at an event at the Indianapolis factory, Thursday, December 1, 2016, to announce that the jobs will stay and other companies will face consequences if they choose to leave the country.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

President-elect Donald Trump talks to Carrier employees and supporters after an event, Thursday, December 1, 2016, at the factory, announcing that jobs, once slated for Mexico, will stay in the US.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is all smiles as he speaks at Carrier during an event at the Indianapolis factory announcing that jobs will stay in the US, Thursday, December 1, 2016. After speaking, Pence introduced President-elect Donald Trump, to whom Pence gave the credit for the good news.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

A Carrier employee shows his agreement and happiness by gesturing while President-elect Donald Trump spoke at the factory during an event at the Indianapolis factory announcing that jobs will stay at Carrier and in the US, Thursday, December 1, 2016.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

Carrier's Greg Hayes, left, shakes hands with Vice President-elect Mike Pence after introducing him during an event at the Indianapolis factory, Thursday, December 1, 2016, announcing that jobs will stay at Carrier and in the US. President-elect Donald Trump also spoke.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at Carrier during an event at the Indianapolis factory, Thursday, December 1, 2016, announcing that jobs will stay at Carrier and in the US.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

Carrier employees and supporters video tape President-elect Donald Trump as he spoke at Carrier during an event, Thursday, December 1, 2016, announcing that jobs will stay at Carrier and in the US.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

Carrier employee Jeffery Blackford smiles as he talks about how happy he is that jobs will stay at Carrier's Indianapolis plant, after an event, Thursday, December 1, 2016, where President-elect Donald Trump spoke about the happy news for the company.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage after being introduced to tell about the jobs that are staying in the US at Carrier. An event at the Indianapolis factory was held to announce the info, Thursday, December 1, 2016.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage after being introduced to tell about the jobs that are staying in the US at Carrier. An event at the Indianapolis factory was held to announce the info, Thursday, December 1, 2016.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage after being introduced by Vice President-elect, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, to tell about the jobs that are staying in the US at Carrier. An event at the Indianapolis factory was held to announce the info, Thursday, December 1, 2016.
Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

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“Do we have mixed feelings? Yeah, we are ecstatic for the people whose jobs (at Carrier) are being saved, but we are angry about the jobs that are leaving. Those are people we represent, too," Feltner said.

In the deal that Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — the vice president-elect — helped negotiate with Carrier, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered the company up to $5 million in conditional tax credits, $1 million in training grants and $1 million in tax credits for continued investments in the Indianapolis plant.

A 'zero sum' game

The practice of offering tax credits and other perks as incentives for companies to add or retain jobs in a state is widespread.

Critics, though, say it puts government in the position of picking winners and losers in the private sector.

“Tax credits are the government putting their finger on the scale,” said Jenni Dye, research director for One Wisconsin Now, a liberal public policy group in Madison.

It’s also a “zero sum” game, Dye said, with states and countries stealing jobs from each other in lieu of creating new jobs.

“That’s why we’ve got to have leadership on a higher level, than just state leadership, coming together. If everyone jointly decides that we are not going to play this game anymore, we will get back to a more level playing field,” Dye said.